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Two workers injured in explosion at business

Fire officials say an explosion at a western Ohio manufacturer blew out some walls of the
building and sent two workers to the hospital.

Deputy Fire Chief Ron Wolfe said the workers’ injuries from the Friday night explosion at the
Protecpac building in Sidney were not considered life-threatening.

Wolfe said the company uses isobutane to expand plastic in making a foam product used in
packaging. He said fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of the explosion. Residents
nearby reported hearing a loud noise and feeling their homes shake.

Fire officials were told four people were working in the building at the time. Wolfe said two
were taken to a hospital, and a third worker declined medical treatment.

— Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Two accused of cheating at casino via texting

A man and a woman have been charged with cheating at the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland after state
investigators said they found the pair texting strategy to each other during a poker game.

Brian Cantrell, 50, of Parma, and Danielle Scolaro, 33, of Euclid, each face a maximum of a year
in prison and a $1,000 fine. They were indicted on Thursday on charges that they cheated the
casino, a fifth-degree felony.

Neither Cantrell nor Scolaro could be reached to comment.

According to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office, Cantrell and Scolaro were caught texting
in the casino’s poker room about 6 a.m. on July 10.

Assistant Prosecutor Kysha Harris said the pair were detected after exchanging several texts
during a single hand. She said they did not win the hand.

At the time, the casino permitted players to use cellphones during play, spokeswoman Christina
Karas said. She said the policy has since been revised to allow phone use only between hands.

— Plain Dealer

PORT CLINTON

Environmentalists fear effect of turbines on birds

A plan to build a wind turbine along Lake Erie near a well-known spot for migrating birds is
worrying environmentalists.

Conservationists say wind turbines are a threat to the birds and could reduce the thousands of
tourists who come to the area east of Toledo every spring to see the migration.

The News-Herald newspaper in Port Clinton reported that one and possibly two wind turbines
are planned in Ottawa County.

Mark Shieldcastle is research director for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. He called the area
one of the best for migratory birds in the nation.

He says one wind turbine has been in the works for a while, but he just learned that another one
might be in development.

Tourism officials say bird tourism brings in more than $300 million to the county.

— Associated Press

BRECKSVILLE

Bald eagle pair returns to Cuyahoga Valley in winter

The frigid weather hasn’t kept a pair of bald eagles from nesting again in a northeastern Ohio
national park.

The pair is nesting in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Brecksville, south of Cleveland. To
provide privacy, rangers have closed the area and restricted use of trails.

The restrictions will be in place through July 31. The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail,
popular with joggers and cyclists, remains open.

Bald eagles returned to the Cuyahoga Valley park in 2006, after an absence of 70 years. Nestings
failed in 2009 and 2011, but eaglets have successfully hatched in other years.

— Plain Dealer via AP

HAMILTON

Woman in minivan killed in crash with train

Authorities say a woman is dead after her minivan was struck by a train north of Cincinnati. The
Butler County’s sheriff’s office said Sharon Bennett, 55, failed to stop for an oncoming train near
Hamilton yesterday afternoon. She was pronounced dead at the scene.The crash remains under
investigation.— Associated Press